LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- J2/National Lampoon (Nasdaq:JTWO) today announced the formation of a strategic alliance between its website, nationallampoon.com, and iSyndicate, the preeminent content syndication service on the Internet.
iSyndicate is expected to increase nationallampoon.com's audience by offering segments of the comedy network's cutting-edge content through its considerable network of 100,000-plus affiliate websites. J2/National Lampoon will earn revenue and site awareness by licensing its content to other iSyndicate sites or portals.
"This alliance represents an important first step to nationallampoon.com in terms of access to major portals, individual websites and, most importantly, tens of millions of consumers," said J2/National Lampoon Chairman and CEO James P. Jimirro. "A major thrust of our online marketing strategy is to align ourselves with other significant web content providers. iSyndicate enables us to begin to quickly achieve these associations. With the signing of this agreement, we are becoming an integral part of the Web community.
"By combining content licensing with our advertising and merchandising sales, we now have a very good mix of incremental revenue opportunities," said Mr. Jimirro, adding that he expects the additional access to consumers through cross-marketing to dramatically increase both advertising and merchandising revenues.
President and CEO of iSyndicate, Joel Maske commented, "We are delighted to be associated with the venerated National Lampoon brand. The National Lampoon brand is one that is instantly recognizable to consumers of all ages. Nationallampoon.com gives us an unparalleled opportunity to offer one-of-a-kind satirical and comedic content to our affiliates. iSyndicate will enable nationallampoon.com to increase awareness of its brand and unique content."
About iSyndicate (http://www.isyndicate.com) iSyndicate, the Internet content marketplace, is the leading provider of dynamic and relevant Web content designed to help drive commerce and build community on the Internet. Today, the company aggregates, packages, integrates and delivers a breadth of content from sources. The Web sites of Netscape, PeopleSoft, The Globe.com, Nintendo, Nortel, NationsBank, Iomega, FirstUSA, thehealthchannel.com, and IMSI now feature specially selected articles and up-to-the-minute news from iSyndicate's brand name content sources like CBS Marketwatch, About.com, RollingStone.com, C/Net, PC World, CBS Sportsline, Salon.com and Yahoo! Net Events.
About J2/National Lampoon Based in Los Angeles, CA, J2 Communications, which owns National Lampoon, is an Internet-based entertainment company. The Company is creating an interactive comedy network on its website nationallampoon.com. The site will contain hilarious new characters, stories and features as well as entertainment classics from the national Lampoon archives. Company plans to sell related merchandise and advertising space on the site to supplement its current revenue base of licensing agreements. Nationallampoon.com will be launched in the fall of 1999.
Certain of the above statements may be forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including competitive developments and risk factors listed from time to time in the company's SEC reports.